Why Does Cariña Sing Squishy Songs?
On May 4th, 2024 I sang a solo concert named Squishy Songs.
So why “Squishy Songs”?
The title Squishy Songs refers to that warm fuzzy feeling you have inside when you hear a song that immediately appeals to all your senses. I compiled a list of songs over 6 years ago that reflect exactly that. The list had been sitting on my piano written in black Sharpie on a piece of paper that I usually made my grocery list on. I wanted to get back into singing concerts for a long time but never felt I had the right accompanists, audience, and timing.
During the pandemic I had Covid three times, the first time before any vaccines were out, and as many of you know I was working as a first responder in my job as a bus driver for King County Metro. The second time I had Covid was thankfully after being vaccinated, but the Delta variant did my lungs in. With the comorbidity of asthma, and what is probably long covid, I have suffered diminished lung capacity amongst many other symptoms.
Now, how does one prepare to sing a concert that is a bit longer than an hour? With gusto?
Seriously, the road to execute this concert has been a long one, but first I needed to get SOME lung strength back. And singing is seriously good for icky lungs.
For a while, I had to make peace with singing short stubby lines that didn't sound very good and also with the lack of breath support (I had become very unfit due to other health concerns). I started WALKING and BREATHING and doing some pulmonary exercises. Look at this very cool colorful ball exercise you can do making you feel like you’re a 5-year-old in a hospital gown. Amazon.com: HealthAndYoga™ Deep Breathing Exerciser - Breath Exercise Measurement System : Health & Household
Okay, maybe my imagination is working overtime. The main issue for me was improving my lung capacity and “finding” my diaphragm again. Because without that, no amount of breath can be controlled. 🙂I also adopted a technique where you breathe out through a straw and try to drag out the breath for as long as possible. Imagine any movie scene where an asthmatic takes a deep emergency puff from their inhaler. It wasn't fun, but it was very effective.
I added walking up tiny hills to my routine and voila - a diva is born. Not really. But almost.
While I was working on my lung capacity I also had to work on learning the repertoire, this means studying the notes on the page and singing it correctly while correctly matching them to the lyrics. An added level of difficulty was that none of the music was in English or my first opera language, Italian. Yes, I did this to myself. This was slightly offset by the fact that I had three pieces where most of it is sung on the Ah vowel, so I saved myself a little there.
Once I felt like I had the repertoire mostly under control, I had the task of finding musicians. To me, this felt like the most daunting task since I had not sung a concert of this complexity in the USA. And I wasn’t engaging only a pianist like most of my concerts in the past.
I won’t go into the boring details here, but in short, my amazing social network came to the rescue when I asked for recommendations for a pianist, violinist, and guitarist.
The bulk of the concert preparations happened before an intimate house concert I held in August 2023, and as Covid would have it, I did not have a guitarist on that day since he fell ill.
Between last August and May 2024, lots of new musical relationships blossomed and I then ended up having a whole new crew for my May concert. The musicians I worked with were all stunning performers in their own right, instead of this being a solo performance with accompanists, this concert ended up feeling much more like ensemble work, than me being alone in the endeavor.
Once all the musicians were in place, all that was left was to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
And practice I did.
For about a month before the concert, I attempted to run through the entire concert once a day, this was mostly impossible, but I knew I needed to work on my stamina. Imagine walking up the hill to the grocery store once a week v. walking up the steepest hill in Seattle while singing. That is the improvement I needed to make.
All the while, my breath lines (how long your breath lasts while singing) were still not as good as I would have liked them, however singing with shorter and more intentional lines is better than not singing at all. My mantra to myself was - I am not going to let Covid keep me from singing! I needed to bring this gift to my audience.
If you enjoy my singing, you may want to consider hiring me to perform at your home for an intimate concert for friends. If this sounds like something you would enjoy, please email me hello@carinabooyens.com
Here is a link to my YouTube channel where you can watch videos of this performance.
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